Various types of hand tools are known in the art to assist a user in effectively performing a variety of gardening, yardwork, and home improvement tasks by hand. For example, hand rakes are often used by gardeners and homeowners for tilling soil, gathering garden and yard debris, or collecting other items on the ground. As another example, hand-operated “grabbers” or “pick-ups” may be used to more efficiently pick up a number of items from the ground, as compared to simply picking up the items by hand one-by-one. Still other examples of hand tools include paint rollers and hand sanders, which allow a user to quickly paint or sand various surfaces, such as walls, and are often preferred over traditional paint brushes and unsupported sand paper.
Known hand tools are frequently designed to allow a user to operate the tool with a single hand (i.e., the user's “working hand”) while squatting, kneeling, or seated on the ground or while standing near a work surface or area. In this manner, while using the hand tool, the user's opposite hand (i.e., the user's “free hand”) may be used to support the user on or relative to the ground, to steady the user relative to the working surface or area, or to perform other tasks. Although known single-handed hand tools may be effective in performing the desired tasks, such tools often leave the user's working hand exposed to the surrounding environment and/or the working surface or area, which may be undesirable for several reasons.
For example, when a conventional hand rake, grabber, or other hand tool is used in a garden or around plants, shrubs, or groundcover, the user's working hand may remain largely exposed as the user extends the tool into or around the working area. Consequently, the exposed working hand potentially may be cut, scraped, or otherwise harmed or irritated by direct contact with plants, shrubs, brush, sticks, thorns, briars, or other garden or yard debris present in the working area. Additionally, the user's working hand may potentially be bitten or stung by snakes, vermin, other pests, bees, yellow jackets, wasps, ants, or other insects that may be concealed from the user's view in the working area. Furthermore, the user's fingernails and/or nail polish applied thereto may be damaged, and dirt may accumulate under the fingernails during continued use of the hand tool. Although some people may wear gloves while gardening or performing other yardwork tasks, conventional gloves often do not provide sufficient protection from cuts, scrapes, bites, stings, or other damage that may occur to the user's hands or fingernails. Additionally, wearing conventional gloves while using a hand rake, grabber, or other hand tool may be undesirable due a loss of tactile feel, difficulty gripping the tool, or increased sweating of the user's working hand during hot weather.
Other problems may exist when using a conventional paint roller, hand sander, or other hand tool to perform various home improvement tasks. For example, when using a conventional paint roller for an extended period of time, the user's exposed working hand may become covered with paint that sprays during rotation of the roller cover. Such paint spray may be difficult and time consuming to remove, particularly from the user's fingernails and cuticles. When using a conventional hand sander, the user's exposed working hand may inadvertently come into direct contact with the working surface being sanded or other surrounding surfaces as the user moves the sander back and forth, which may result in cuts, scrapes, bruises, splinters, or other harm to the working hand. Additionally, the user's working hand may become covered with dust or other debris created during sanding, which may irritate the skin, depending on the nature of the dust material. In view of these problems, some users may wear gloves while painting, sanding, or performing other home improvement tasks with hand tools. However, use of conventional gloves may be undesirable due to a loss of tactile feel, difficulty grasping the tool, or increased sweating of the user's working hand, all of which may affect the quality of the task being performed.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved hand tools, such as hand rakes, grabbers, paint rollers, hand sanders, and other hand-operated tools that adequately protect a user's working hand from potential harm during use of the tools. Such hand tools should allow a user to perform gardening, yardwork, or home improvement tasks without worry of harm to the user's working hand and without the need for gloves.